An Aboriginal teenager who claims she was unlawfully strip-searched in the presence of a male police officer is taking legal action to prevent footage of her exposed body from being aired in court.

The girl, 16, is fighting to uphold the cultural sanctity of women's business to the Supreme Court after a Children's Court magistrate refused her bid to exclude male police witnesses from watching the video and to have her criminal case heard before a female magistrate.

An Aboriginal girl who was strip searched is taking legal action to prevent footage of her body from being aired to men in court.

The mother of the girl, who was 15 when she was searched at Wagga Wagga police station in March 2019, and who cannot be identified for legal reasons, said her daughter, also a sexual assault survivor, would break down if the footage of the incident was played in front of men.

Aboriginal Legal Service field officer Emily Bruton, a Mutthi Mutthi and Wemba Wemba woman, said in Aboriginal culture, the showing of a woman's sensitive body parts was considered women's business and was part of lore practised for thousands of years.

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"If women's business is conducted in front of males, cultural shame is likely to be the result. This is extremely distressing and would stay with the woman for a long time," Ms Bruton said in an affidavit.

Magistrate Christopher Halburd said male police witnesses would need to see the CCTV.

Yuin woman and female prisoner advocate Vickie Roach said forcing an underage woman to show her body in front of men was "highly inappropriate" culturally.

"There should always be female oversight of these issues," Ms Roach said.

The girl faces several charges of driving a stolen vehicle and assaulting police, who in court documents allege the teenager lashed out against, spat at and kicked officers, smashing their body cameras during her arrest and at the station.

Police sayfemale officers strip-searched the girl after she made threats with various items she pulled from underneath her clothing.

The girl has pleaded not guilty and her lawyers claim both male and female officers were present during the search, which, if proven, is a breach of state law, and are challenging the legality of the procedure in a contested hearing.

Magistrate Christopher Halburd said the sensitive parts of the footage didn't need to be played in court, but the girl's lawyer, Bronte Winn, said her client was uncomfortable giving evidence about the search itself in front of men.

In refusing the initial application, Mr Halburd said he couldn't see any way the video couldn't be played as five of the witnesses to be questioned were men who would have to be asked about the footage, and he wasn't willing to constrain the prosecution case.

He said there was no logical reason to mandate a female magistrate to preside over the hearing if the male officers were not being excluded.

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The girl, through her lawyers, is appealing against the decision, claiming she has been denied procedural fairness, that the magistrate failed to properly take her Aboriginality into account, and that he made errors of law.

Lawyers for NSW Attorney-General Mark Speakman, who has joined in as a defendant to the Supreme Court case, refute these arguments, and also claim there is doubt a magistrate has the power to assign a female magistrate.

They also claim the application may contradict open justice principals in terms of restricting interested parties from witnessing the criminal proceedings.